Abortion and Ostrasization

Margo works for a religious bookstore. Seventeen years ago, in a distant state and as an unmarried juvenile, Margo had an abortion. Coworker "A" discovers this fact from a chance meeting with one of Margo's former high school classmates. Coworker "A" purposely reveals it to other coworkers, who find the fact that she had extramarital sex and an abortion to be deeply offensive. Thereafter, Margo is ostracized at work. Does Margo have any legal recourse against the coworker who made this revelation?

Explain using legal reasoning from text not just your gut feelings.

Solution Preview

Margo does have legal resource in this scenario. Margo is ostracized, which shows us she's being treated differently due to the actions that were discovered by her coworkers. There are a few different issues present here. One of the main issues is that the court has previously ruled that an employee cannot be treated differently based upon gender discrimination. While all of the employees may even be female in this case, the court also ruled in Doe vs CARS Protection Plus, that treating an employee differently due to an abortion is gender discrimination. In the cited case, the employee was terminated for having an abortion.

Another main point is that according to the EEOC, "a woman who is affected by pregnancy and related conditions must be treated the same as all other employee - and is ...

Solution Summary

This solution provides a thorough discussion regarding Margo and her employer, a religious bookstore. All legal elements are discussed, and 2 references are included.